As criticism heats up against the United States over civilian casualties in its Afghan war, opposition Northern Alliance commanders have agreed to launch a new offensive on the key northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, this time with more US air support, reported AFP.
The US has over the past few days intensified its aerial attacks on the Taliban front lines, and the opposition foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah “thanked the US” for that, according to satellite TV reports.
Analysts and reporters covering the war have said that the US has not so far achieved its goals, as the Taliban stand defiant and the North Alliance is still in its trenches with no real progress on the Kabul and Mazar fronts.
In the meanwhile, the US has found itself in an embarrassing situation, with the only TV network covering the war inside Afghanistan, Al Jazeera, showing footage of children killed in more and more “mistakes” by the US warplanes.
On Sunday, 15 people were killed in raids on Kabul, including nine children, the station said, rejecting hints by US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that the footage was fabricated, and that Al Jazeera had been dragged into a Taliban propaganda war.
The US bombs have even killed its allies, including 10 people killed in a village occupied by the families of its northern allies, according to the Qatar-based station.
However, AFP said one was killed and seven wounded in the mistaken-target strike.
Moreover, the new anti-terrorism law endorsed Saturday by President George W. Bush has prompted analysts to say that Bush has exploited the state of fear among his people to give the authorities more powers, sending the country back to the era of McCarthy.
In addition, the Washington Post has reported that the US and Pakistan efforts to split the Taliban by persuading Pashtun tribes to turn their backs to their rulers have failed.
And in the United States, officials warn of more attacks from letters carrying the deadly anthrax bacteria, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that a New Jersey postal worker was diagnosed with anthrax, according to AFP.
NO BREAK FOR RAMADAN
As the US-led war on terror in Afghanistan continued with no end in sight, top US and British officials insisted Sunday that military action would go on despite calls for a ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins in mid-November.
However, Rumsfeld and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw - both interviewed on ABC television - dismissed claims the US-led campaign was foundering in the face of stiff resistance from the Taliban and mounting civilian casualties.
"We feel that the air campaign has been successful," Rumsfeld said.
Straw said the destruction of the Taliban's air capability meant "it's now possible to infiltrate ground troops into Afghanistan to fight the Taliban."
With the increased air support, commanders of the Northern Alliance decided on the new offensive on the Taliban held city of Mazar-i-Sharif at a special war council on Monday.
The offensive "will begin within the next two or three days," Commander Mohammad Atta spokesman Mohammad Ashraf Nadeem told AFP from the region.
A series of earlier offensives aimed at capturing the strategic town have been rebuffed by Taliban forces.
The capture of Mazar-i-Sharif, which is close to the border with Uzbekistan, would give US combat troops in the central Asian state an easy entry point to Afghanistan.
In his interview Sunday, Rumsfeld also praised beleaguered Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf for coping with "a very difficult situation," stating that he is "doing a terrific job."
Pakistan, a key ally, has faced an increasingly violent backlash from Islamic fundamentalists.
In a display of ominous unity, several thousand Pakistani Pashtun tribesmen - armed with rocket launchers, automatic rifles, swords and axes - are close to the Afghan border waiting for approval from the Taliban to join the war against the US.
Several thousand more Pakistanis, many from the tribal zones, are believed to be already with the Taliban army in Afghanistan bracing for US-led ground forces.
Other armed tribal militants are using cars and trucks to block Pakistan's main highway to China, while two youth groups have threatened to kill anyone supporting attempts by the former Afghan king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, to prepare a post-Taliban government – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
